


What A Review Means To A Writer

by moviepal01



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-20
Updated: 2012-07-20
Packaged: 2017-11-10 08:56:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/464491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moviepal01/pseuds/moviepal01
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a short piece about what your reviews mean to those of us who write.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What A Review Means To A Writer

What A Review Means To A Writer  
By  
Moviepal

When you sit down to read a Fan Fiction or any fiction on one of the many free posting site (see list at the bottom of this article for some of them) you’ll notice a small tab at the bottom of the page marked “review” . Most times in authors notes at the beginning or end of the story they ask that you, “please read and review” or something along those lines. The reason for that is we don’t get paid or make any kind of profit from what we write, we literally write for free because we love to write, and with fan fiction we love a show, movie, or book enough to want to continue the story beyond what the creators did. Writers as a group generally have no choice about these ideas and stories; they come from nowhere and gnaw at our brain till we write it out. We are then compelled to share this story with others in the hope that it entertains them.  
This is where reviews come into play. When you review a story after you read it, for most of us writers, but not all, it’s a vindication of the hard work we put into the story. You see most of us tend to be a little insecure about our work and we really like those words of encouragement, they are our payment so to speak. If it helps, think of a story as going out to eat and the writer as your waiter or waitress and your review a tip.  
In other articles we will go in depth about how to write a good review and the different kinds of them, but for now we’ll discuss how writers view them. Just like everything else, no two writers feel the same about reviews for the most part, so here we go:  
1\. The story hostage= these writers hold updates and postings till they receive a certain amount of reviews. While I don’t do that myself, those that do are adamant about it, which is their right. PBS runs a series call “The Joy Of Painting with Bob Ross” in which he teaches the viewer how to paint a picture by painting one while he instructs. In every show he reminds the viewer that the canvas, or for the writer the blank screen, is their world and they can do anything they want with it. So holding out for reviews is their right.  
2\. The panhandler= My name for those who beg and plead for reviews (I’ve panhandled before). As I have stated, we tend to be an insecure lot and reviews boost our self-confidence. These writers sometimes also ask for your ideas or what you would like to see in the story so that they can help you enjoy it more. These, read me also, tend to wear our hearts on our sleeves and really take reviews of praise as written love.  
3\. The bean counters= those writers who shoot for a big number of reviews. I’ve also done that. The more reviews the more people who have read the story which is what all of us want. Secretly I think every writer kind of does that no matter what they say, LOL.  
4\. The 50/50 writers= I don’t know why I call them that, but they are the writers who like reviews but aren’t hung up on getting them as much as others do. They still care, but they just don’t worry like some of us do.

The one thing all of us have in common is we love to write and we want people to read our stuff. Some prefer reviews that have some length to them and spell out what was liked and disliked, some want to hear about the good things in a story, and some, like me, are happy with one word sometimes. I received a “wow” once and loved it. I don’t care if it was a “wow” was a wow as in what a piece of crap, or “wow” as in this is great, because in my mind it’s the latter.  
What it boils down to is that little review button is like gold for us, because it means that what we wrote and posted touched you enough that you wanted to leave a comment about how it made you feel, and that makes it worthwhile for us as writers.  
Next time you see that review button after you read something remember that someone worked hard to post that story and leave them a few lines of love. As they say on iCarly, “It’s for the children”.


End file.
